Blood from Stone [AU]

[Coquette Blacquin]

"It's always been family that kept me going," she whispers. "My family by birth was not... once I found the Smiths, they were my anchor and my refuge, ever since. I tried to give them up for their own safety but that was... that was the worst period of my career, being adrift like that. I was overjoyed when they moved to Nyra, when I got them back."

[Tethras Clan]

Aveline smiles, head lowering as if to hide the smile that is very clear on her face. "I can sympathize. After Wesley- my fiance- died, I... I drove myself. Put everything into my duty. I would work hundred hour weeks. No friends, nothing but duty and service. The za'Franes were... life coming back. Love." She clears her throat again. "Right then. Did you think of anything to ask me or should I drop the Truthing?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

She shakes her head. "Go ahead and drop it."

[Tethras Clan]

Nodding, the paladin focuses on her spell and dismisses it carefully. "And gone." She lifts her head, studying Cindy. "Thank you for this. It is brave of you, and... loving, to risk this for Jaina's sake."

[Coquette Blacquin]

She nods, her gaze still lowered. "I am not... I don't believe.... I fear I have disappointed her. And I... if things are never the same between us, between any of us, then I can accept that. But I... I couldn't keep lying to her face."

She gives a small, bitter laugh. "Of all the lies, the one that really needled me was that I am a lesbian."

[Tethras Clan]

"Pardon? I... are you... not?" No, there's no way she could have pretended to be involved with Liz that... consistently. 

[Coquette Blacquin]

"I am interested in men," she says quietly. "I am also interested in women, something I did not know before Liz. But I... there is nothing stopping me from marrying a man, having children."

[Tethras Clan]

"Ah, I see. The same as Seli and Jai then. I am... similar, though it would be more accurate to say that I don't factor in sex or gender when I judge attractiveness. Not much anyway."

[Coquette Blacquin]

Cindy's eye twitches faintly. Seli and Mother are just friends, she tells herself, nodding. "Yes. But it was a convenient lie, that my parents disowned me for loving women, so..."

[Tethras Clan]

"Well... if I understand the... social climate correctly, would they have cared if you were bisexual or lesbian? It seems plausible to me that they would not care, had they caught you with a girlfriend. So your story holds, even should you wish to court a man."

[Coquette Blacquin]

She shakes her head. "Being with a woman would be disgraceful, but if done in private, would be something that could be hushed away, punished and covered up. Being unable to lie with a man -- or unwilling -- would be a major problem. My fiance died before we could be wed, but as I never entertained another suitor, if I had been... unwilling to attempt it... having me sent away would have been acceptable. Of course, father ordered my death, which was not as acceptable, but as I did not die very few people know this."

[Tethras Clan]

"Not as acce-" Aveline's nostrils flare and her teeth grind audibly as she restrains herself. "Perhaps if the woman you were caught with was a scandal in and of itself? I have no idea if a common or noble woman would be worse. Or perhaps... no, a married woman would reflect poorly on you under Nyrain mores as well. What would they have made of you lying with a Joyous?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Perhaps. To those that knew me, there is really only one option, and she departed Glaley long before I was... well. It doesn't really matter, does it? I am unlikely to run into any who knew Coquette Blacquin here, where I am clearly Cindy Black."

[Tethras Clan]

"I suppose that's fair." Aveline pauses, then grins a little. "Though if you do run into such a person, then perhaps the answer is not who but how many? I can only imagine what your average Glalian prude would think of you laying with two or three women at once. Perhaps sister? I have heard that is a common dream for many men."

[Coquette Blacquin]

She makes a face. "I can't imagine wanting that much sex. But I can probably sell it convincingly. I can sell almost any disguise."